Monday, November 12, 2007

The Tale of Hammy the Pig

Well guys, sad news. The show is over.

That, of course, explains why I am sitting in my bedroom at 7:00 on a Monday night. It has been a very long time since I have had a rehearsal-free Monday night. I'm not really sure what to do with myself!

The Taming of the Shrew closed last night. If you got to come and see it, then thanks! We had fantastic audiences each night. If you didn't come see it, we forgive you. But you better come next time! : )

It was a long journey to the end. My humble little dorm suite houses 4 members of the Taming company, and believe me, we definitely bonded quite a bit throughout the process! For the show, my roommates Lucy(who played Baptista's servant Violet), Ginny(who played Biondello as a girl named Biondella), Skyler(who was the incredible head of the props crew), and I (Bianca) definitely shared some stressful moments and sleepless nights while we prepared for the show, but we also had some fun along the way. One of Skyler's biggest props projects was creating a roasted pig on a stick for a scene at Petruchio's house. One day, I came home after rehearsal and found a hideous rubber pig about the size of a cat sitting on top of my desk. After I gasped and jumped, I burst into Sky's room to ask if she knew where it had come from. As I waited for her to finally stop laughing, I realized that it was a rejected prop. I thought, "Ok, two can play this game!" As soon as Skyler left for a few minutes, I shoved the pig into her bathroom drawer. She didn't discover it until a few days later, and we got another laugh.
For a few weeks, the four of us randomly hid the pig in each other's rooms. I once woke up to find it staring at me on my pillow! We have now affectionately christened the pig "Hammy," and he occupies a prominent position on top of the TV in our common room. Who knows though...one day he might just show up on Lucy's bookshelf or in Ginny's closet! Beware!

Oh, and in order to see the real pig prop that Skyler and her crew created, you should watch the video excerpt of the show!

Meanwhile, we'll move on to rehearsing for the student-directed one-acts, to be performed on December 4th and 5th. Then, we can take a little break before our January performances of Our Town and Marry Me a Little!

-Amanda

BSC's Taming of the Shrew Company


Wednesday, November 7, 2007

The Taming of the Shrew Video

DANCE! DANCE!

Hello blog viewers,


Anais and Spurge here wanting to drop by and pump you up about the big song and dance number at the end of Taming--it's awesome. Barclee came up with some pretty cute stuff, and who doesn't feel good when they hear...well, we'll let it be a surprise.





Anais and I conned our way into being on the balcony; sike! No, seriously, we did. Basically, I wanted to be up there and since Anais just wants to be like me, she asked to be up there, too. I don't know why, though--I dance better than she does. (In case you didn't know, Anais has been trained in classical ballet since she was four, and I have trained myself...in front of my mirror when I'm getting ready.)


Okay, I'm admitting it, Spurge is right-SHE'S THE BEST. The choreography for the Shrew is really depicting of the time period! Barclee gave us a lot of great things to work with and kind of make our own. Not only will the audience experience it in the end but also in the lobby before the show (which is a really nice touch). The dancing truly does add so much to the overall feel of the play. It has a way of bringing us all together not only as characters in this classic with a twist, but as an ensemble and family that is the Birmingham-Southern theatre department. There is no doubt that the audience will leave grinning. Let's face it...all you need is love. Peace out...yet another 60's reference for you.




Enough of our ramblings. It's important to know that all of Shakespeare's plays ended with big dance numbers, and this is our version of that. Come hang with us Thursday -Saturday at 7pm or Sunday at 2:30 to enjoy some ridiculously awesome fun and exciting entertainment. Hey, we don't live in that theatre for nothing!






Spurge and Anais